Millions of individuals world-wide are infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Consequently, HIV infection represents a serious public health concern. Spread of HIV infection via contaminated blood products means that there is a need for screening methods that can detect small amounts of HIV RNA in patient samples. Furthermore, the increasing availability of ameliorative treatments for HIV infection means that early detection of infection in a patient is vital in order to initiate appropriate therapeutic interventions.
Thus, there is a need in the art for highly sensitive detection methods for HIV that can be used in diagnosis and screening.